North Star Politics

[Ed. Note: I hesitate to even write the following. I really do not wish to dignify this issue with any attention, but I also feel that the cheapness and personal-attack politics ought to be discussed. I'm not going to link to the offending website or posts; I don't think they really deserve it.]

MDE has done it again. Not content with his already-great contribution to the lowering of Minnesota politics, he has hit a new high (or low, depending). This time, he's questioning the motives for U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum's living arrangements. It seems that Rep. McCollum owns and lives in a condo right next door to her chief of staff, Bill Harper. MDE's post clearly implies that he believes there is a somehow improper relationship going on, despite the fact that McCollum is divorced and Harper is single. MDE supplies no evidence for any such relationship save the bare fact that the two live next door to each other. He concludes his second post by saying:

I think McCollum needs to explain why she lives next-door to her chief of staff.

I have so many problems with all of this that I don't even know where to begin. For starters, MDE is in absolutely no position to demand McCollum explain anything, especially who she's living next door to. MDE's post also contains some other not-so-subtle accusations, including that Harper was the cause of McCollum's divorce, something for which there is absolutely no evidence. Despite this, the core accusation, that McCollum is in a relationship with Harper, isn't one of something illegal, immoral, or otherwise wrong. What it is, however, is private. The whole issue is just a gigantic invasion of privacy on something that isn't relevant to any of us. MDE is apparently willing to sink to any level to attempt to tarnish the reputation of one of Minnesota's finest public officials.

This matter disgusts me. I absolutely and unequivocally denounce this kind of politics; I will never engage in it. MDE is absolutely wrong on this.